Ethics Reform Elusive

Los Angeles Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa, who promised on the campaign trail to run a more ethical administration, has a plan to “clean house” and toughen City Hall ethics rules.

“On the first day, I’m going to remove every lobbyist from our commissions,” he reiterated recently, indicating that he intends to set a tone for strict adherence to ethical standards starting with his Friday inauguration.

As dramatic as that sounds, Villaraigosa’s pledge will have little effect on the city’s 300-plus commissioners. Just four are lobbyists and two of them have already submitted their resignations. Ethics experts say that Villaraigosa’s ethics proposals are an improvement, but do not go far enough. They point out that Villaraigosa has failed to back a long-stalled initiative that would halt the flow of donations to city candidates from people who hope to win lucrative contracts from city government.

“There is a persistent perception by the public that all levels of government exist in a ‘pay to play’ environment,” said Susan Lerner of the California Clean Money Campaign. “This kind of activity reinforces that cynicism.”

During the campaign, Villaraigosa repeatedly questioned the ethics of Mayor James K. Hahn’s administration, reminding voters that a federal and county grand jury are investigating whether city contracts were linked to political contributions.

Villaraigosa also criticized Hahn for appointing some of his key fundraisers to top staff and commission posts, and he pledged to “appoint deputy mayors based on knowledge, experience and integrity.” So far, he has appointed five senior staff members, and all of them have primary experience in government, not political fundraising.

A council panel has separately recommended that commissioners be banned from being paid for lobbying. But, apparently out of deference to Villaraigosa, a vote by the full council has not been scheduled until next week.

Of the four current lobbyists on commissions, Board of Neighborhood Empowerment Commission President Ronald Stone resigned Wednesday and Water and Power Commission President Dominick Rubalcava resigned, but volunteered to serve until Villaraigosa can make an appointment.

The other lobbyists are Parks Commission Chairman Mike Roos and Convention and Exhibition Center Authority Vice Chairwoman Carol Schatz.

Rubalcava says the ban is unreasonable. “I think it’s unnecessary because the conflict of interest laws are very clear, and I don’t believe there has been a problem,” he said.

He said the ban applies to paid lobbyists but not to attorneys and union officials, who are also paid to influence City Hall but who do not register as lobbyists.

“I do believe that’s unfair,” he said.

Rebecca Avila, chairwoman of California Common Cause, said the council could also consider the role of union representatives, but defended the proposed ban on lobbyists. “Commissions have an important role in providing public accountability into decision-making,” Avila said. “If you are a lobbyist, your job is to represent the interests of the people who pay you.”

Daniel Tokaji, former chairman of California Common Cause, said Villaraigosa’s banishment of lobbyists from commissions, “may accomplish something but, by itself, isn’t sufficient to curb improper influence by high-priced lobbyists.”

In response to criticism, Villaraigosa said his ban on lobbyist-commissioners is just the start of his reform effort.

The mayor-elect has proposed a dozen other reforms that good-government advocates say are fine initial steps, although some may prove impractical or face legal hurdles.

“The intent is right. The motivation is right. But some of the proposals will be tricky to implement,” said Tracy Westen, chief executive of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

The mayor-elect’s promises include:

* Insisting that important commission decisions be made in public meetings, not behind closed doors.

* Forbidding commissioners from meeting in private with contractors who are doing city work.

* Requiring departments to disclose all no-bid contracts, contract extensions and contract changes.

* Banning political contributors from receiving no-bid contracts.

* Requiring campaign contributors with city contracts to report the contracts when they make contributions, information that would appear on campaign finance reports.

“It does get to the heart of conflict issues,” Westen said of the proposed contractor-reporting requirement. “But it doesn’t deal with potential conflicts, when contributors are going after contracts but haven’t received them yet.”

Westen suggested Villaraigosa should also require disclosure by contributors who are bidding on contracts.

Others, including Lerner of the California Clean Money Campaign, said such disclosure rules “are simply not effective.” Lerner said she is encouraged that Villaraigosa has indicated he is willing to study full public financing of campaigns.

But Lerner said the new mayor should support a proposal to ban city contractors and bidders on contracts from fundraising for and contributing to city candidates. Hahn proposed the measure, which would dry up an enormous source of funds for city candidates, after his administration was wracked by charges of scandal.

In this year’s election, Hahn and Villaraigosa both received tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from city contractors, including attorneys for law firms hired by the city.

Hahn criticized Villaraigosa after the councilman’s campaign received $47,000 in contributions from employees of two Florida firms, some of whom could not explain why they gave to a candidate in L.A. Villaraigosa returned the contributions, but the district attorney’s office is still investigating whether the contributions were illegally laundered. Villaraigosa has not endorsed Hahn’s contribution ban, which has bogged down in a City Council committee.

The mayor-elect also proposed to improve public disclosure for independent expenditure campaigns, which are not subject to the $1,000-per-person contribution limit.

He wants independent expenditure committees to file an advance notice telling the public which candidate or issue they are supporting and how much they intend to spend. The notice would have to be filed 30 days before the election to curtail the current practice in which large independent campaigns are mounted with little notice a few days before the election.

Westen, however, said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that government generally cannot restrict independent expenditures.

Another key test will come when Villaraigosa announces his appointment to the five-member city Ethics Commission.

Some reformers have complained that the panel has, in the last year, begun challenging the tradition of strict enforcement of ethics laws. “His appointment to the Ethics Commission is one of the biggest indications of how serious he is about ethics,” Common Cause chairwoman Avila said.

Avila, a former executive director of the Ethics Commission, said she views it as a positive sign that Villaraigosa’s transition team has asked Common Cause for input on the appointment.